


Ollivander's Apprentice

by lrschatzl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Charlie Weasley, F/M, Multi, Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-09-28 20:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrschatzl/pseuds/lrschatzl
Summary: Lyra Livingston just graduated from Hogwarts with semi-good results. Unsure of what to do with her life, she stumbles upon a "hiring" sign at Ollivander's wand shop and promptly decides to apply.As Lyra starts her new job and meets Charlie Weasley, her life turns into a whirlwind of dangerous searches for wand materials, dragon taming, and cleaning.You can also find my work on Wattpad under "lrschatzl"!





	1. Lyra

LYRA had never been very good at making decisions. 

As a child, she had never been able to decide what ice cream flavor she wanted, and when she had been a teenager, she had never really known which clothes to wear. Even when she grew older and had to decide what to do for a living after she had graduated, she was not able to do so. Which is exactly what lead us to this specific place at this certain time.

Lyra Livingston was standing in front of the infamous wand shop Ollivanders. Her hair seemed even whiter next to her dark surroundings and the gloomy store towering above Lyra made her shudder. Had it been this cold the entire time?  
The young girl barely noticed the colourful people scurrying around her, because she did not care much. It was just another busy day at Diagon Alley. 

Well, to everyone else it was only that, but to Lyra, it was the day. The day she would finally make a decision. She was unsure, of course she was, but she felt proud for moving forwards in her life. 

Fixing her blue and silver scarf, Lyra stumbled towards the entrance of Ollivanders. The golden letters above the door saying Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC glinted in a single ray of sunshine.  
As soon as Lyra had entered the shop, dust tickled her nose and made her flinch. I see why he is looking for an assistant, thought Lyra, this place needs a lot of cleaning.

Her gaze scanned the room for the old wizard, but it appeared to be empty. No one was standing at the reception or sitting on the spindly chair to her left. Thinking that he might be somewhere in the back, Lyra walked to the golden bell that was behind the reception. She soon noticed, however, that there was no way for her to pull the dangling chain in order to ring it for it was on the opposite side of the desk. Lyra chuckled at the mental image of Mr Ollivander furiously ringing it when he was bored.

Suddenly, there was a rattling noise ans Lyra's head snapped to its source.

"Ah, Ms Livingston, Hazel wood with a dragon heartstring core, 10 1/4"," murmured a gentle voice. 

Mr Ollivander was standing on a ladder leaning on one of the shelves and pierced Lyra with his pale gaze. She played with the brim of her shirt, feeling unnerved.  
He must have slid along the shelves, thought Lyra.

"Oh, er, hello Mr Ollivander," said Lyra with an awkward wave of her hand. 

The white haired man started climbing down the ladder.  
"What can I help you with, Lyra?" His eyes lit up as he added, "Do you require a new wand?" 

The tiniest of smiles crept on Lyra's lips. He was really passionate about his wands, eh?  
"No, no, I- my mother told me that you are looking for an assistant and I wanted to know if the posi-," Lyra explained but was interrupted by Mr Ollivander.

"Ah, yes, indeed," he swiftly walked to the front desk and started rummaging through the piles of papers on it. His fuzzy white hair bounced along to his movements, making him look like one of those weird dolls.  
Lyra didn't really know what to do with herself, so she just stayed put and observed him. Organisation and order did not seem to be the man's strong point.

After a short moment of search, Mr Ollivander triumphantly held up a worn out leather book. Although his eyes sparkled with excitement, there was something else hidden in them. Something pensive and wise that a lot of old wizards had, but Lyra did not know what. Maybe she was simply too young to know.

"This," he said, stepping closer and holding up the book once more. "This is all you need to know about keeping the shop in order."

He raised his eyebrows with an expectant expression, as if he just told Lyra a scandalous secret and was waiting for her to quiver in awe.  
Once again, the young woman felt overwhelmed and just nodded. 

Apparently, this had been enough for Mr Ollivander because he continued with his speech. "Now, I will give you a week to read and memorise it. After a week, you can come back here and we'll see if you're the right one for this job." 

He handed her the book, turned around, and disappeared once again amidst the shadows and shelves.  
Lyra stood fazed in the middle of the shop with her hands clutched around the book. Now Lyra hadn't been on many job interviews, but she was pretty sure that this was not how they usually went.  
One week, thought Lyra as her gaze roamed over the thin book. She then followed Mr Ollivander's example and left the shop.

The young witch gently placed her scarf and coat on the brittly clothing hanger as she entered her flat.  
Lyra cursed as she almost tripped over a bunch of books on her way to the desk that was standing in the middle of her room.  
She pushed another pile of books to the side of her desk to make room for Mr Ollivander's book, causing them to fall of off the side. Lyra sighed, but didn't care enough to pick them up. She put her new book down and immediately buried her nose in it.

Lyra wasn't messy, it was just that she had a small flat and a lot of books. Also, she had just moved into this cramped space, so everything was bound to be a bit messy.  
But the apartment was cramped even without the books. She only had space for the desk, a single bed in the corner behind it, and some shelves. The bathroom was so small that most of it was taken up by a shower with a loo and sink squished next to it. She didn't have her own kitchen, but there was one in her building that she shared with five of her neighbours.

T

he former Ravenclaw was, like most of her former housemates, a bookworm and read pretty much everything she could get her hands on. Despite her mother urging Lyra to do so, she wasn't a fan of giving her books away once she had got them. 

Contrary to her father, Lyra's mother wanted her to do a lot of things Lyra disagreed with. They were complete opposites that somehow complimented each other very well. Her father was always calm, supportive, and lazy while her mother was loud, critical, and energetic. She made him leave the sofa and move about and he calmed her down when she was being too bubbly. Her dad supported Lyra's actions unconditionally and her mum made her aim for higher goals. 

A yawn interrupted the blonde's reading. She had been so focused on the book full of household tasks, it was only now that she noticed the darkness outside.  
Lyra rubbed her eyes tiredly and closed the book, but instead of leaving it on the desk, she took it with her as she walked over to her bed.  
She crawled under the covers in her single bed and stuffed the book beneath her pillow. 

Lyra fell asleep wondering why she needed a book to explain simple chores to her.

***

A week had passed and Lyra stood once again in the infamous wand shop. This time it wasn't empty, but filled with Mr Ollivander and a customer. 

"Mr Weasley, you must be my most frequent customer," chuckled Mr Ollivander, "what did you do to your wand this time?"

Charlie Weasley, a boy Lyra knew to have been a Gryffindor in her year, scratched the back of his head and flashed the old wizard a grin. "Well, there was this new dragon in the sanctuary..."

Mr Ollivander shook his head, making Lyra smile. "Of course there was."

"It got scared, lashed out, and knocked the wand right out of my hand." Charlie held up the two pieces of his wand and gave Ollivander an apologetic smile. "Can you repair it?" 

The old wizard just sighed, taking the wand out of Charlie's hands and held it under a lamp to observe it more closely. "I don't think so. The string is completely snapped and pieces of the wood are missing. You will need a new one." 

"Mum is going to kill me," muttered Charlie.

Mr Ollivander didn't seem to care much about Charlie's mishap and just went into the back of the shop.  
With the wizard gone, Charlie noticed Lyra leaning against the wall next to the entrance. 

The young wizard smiled and pointed at Lyra. "Lyra Livingston, right? You were a Ravenclaw in my year."

She was surprised that he remembered her, because they hadn't exactly been on the same popularity level. "Yup, that's me. And you're Charlie Weasley, Gryffindor," she stated.

"Yeah." he smiled and nodded at the wand peeking out of Lyra's cardigan pocket. "So I take it that you're not here because you broke your wand?" 

Her gaze jumped to her wand and then back to Charlie. "No, I'm here about the job offer." 

"Job offer?" He raised his eyebrow.

Lyra pointed out the sign outside and explained that this would be her second interview. Charlie wished her good luck, which made her happy. 

She had never talked to him during their shared time at Hogwarts. How could she have? He had been Charlie Weasley - Quidditch star and prefect, whereas she had just been another Ravenclaw. Talking to him now, though, just seemed normal and comfortable. It was like bumping into an old friend.

Mr Ollivander cleared his throat to interrupt their chatter and they turned around. "I have a few wands for you to try out, Charlie." 

The redhead thanked him and took the wand that Mr Ollivander handed him. Having already done this a few times, Charlie softly waved the wand. Despite his gentle movements, a vase that had been standing on a small table next to Mr Ollivander shattered into a thousand pieces, spilling water and withered roses all over the floor. Charlie flinched and apologised. Lyra deduced that this was not the right wand. 

"Oh no, that's not the one," mused the old wizard and gave him another one.

He barely moved the wand this time, too anxious to break something again, but it was to no avail. The drawers behind Mr Ollivander opened and a bunch of documents were catapulted through the room. Charlie apologised again. No wonder this room is such a mess, thought Lyra amused. Her smile fell as she remembered that she would have to clean all of this up if she got the job.

Despite having only tried out two more wands until he found the one that matched, Charlie left the shop in a horrendous mess. He had offered to help tidy it, but Mr Ollivanders dismissed him with a wave of his hand and wished him a good day.

"Thank you, Mr Ollivander. See you, Lyra," shouted Charlie as he exited the store.

The young witch smiled and waved at him, but quickly turned around to face Mr Ollivander whose gaze seemed to be burning into her once again. She wondered if he did this on purpose or if it was just a side effect of his bright eyes. 

"I studied the book," said Lyra after a moment of silence.

Mr Ollivander nodded curtly. "Good. You can start by cleaning up the mess Charlie made."

"You're not going to test me?" She tilted her head in confusion.

He raised an eyebrow amusedly. "Do you want me to?" 

The young witch smiled and kept quiet as she pointed her wand at a broom that was standing in the corner of the shop. It looked lonely and was covered in dust, like it hadn't been used in years. With a flick of her wand, the broom began sweeping the floor.  
Mr Ollivander had already disappeared behind the many shelves again as Lyra began fixing the vase with a simple reparo spell and threw the withered flowers in the bin. Even magic couldn't save those.

The young witch put her hands on her waist and looked around the room. This was going to be a long first day.


	2. the unicorn

IT WAS A CLOUDY DAY in Diagon Alley, but it didn't affect Lyra much as the shop was dark anyway.  
She had spent her day like every day for the past two weeks - cleaning. If she wasn't sweeping in the store, she certainly was in her own home and she was tired of it. It had got to the point where when she closed her eyes, all she saw was a dirty floor and a brush gliding over it. 

Lyra sighed and rested her head on the broomstick. Her shift had only started an hour ago, but she was tired anyway. Or maybe she was bored, not tired. Lyra didn't care either way. She just wanted to do something, anything else. 

The young witch looked around the shop like she often did and her gaze rested on the display windows. Lyra had cleaned the windows the previous day, but thought that it made little difference because the only thing displayed in them were a bunch of boxes and a single wand on a red cushion. The boxes hadn't even been stacked up neatly, which Lyra had painfully noticed as she had almost knocked the fragile tower over whilst cleaning. She has been trying her best to get this shop in order and it was still a mess. It was exhausting.

The main thing keeping her back was not her own incompetence, though; it was Mr Ollivander. He spent most of the time hidden in the back of the shop, where Lyra still wasn't allowed in. She didn't see him very often. Whenever he was there, however, and she asked for permission to change something, he just waved her away and told her that he was busy. Lyra was getting more and more frustrated.

Her heart leapt at the ring of the entrance bell that echoed through the shop. She grinned. Finally someone to talk to.

The customer who had just entered was a man whose red hair was laced with bits of gray and whose fair skin that was only darkened by a ridiculous amount of freckles. He had his hands crossed behind his back and looked through the room with a goofy smile on his face. He seemed merry.

"Hello, there!" uttered the man as his gaze fell on Lyra, "is Mr Ollivander in? I seem to have broken my wand a bit." 

Lyra smiled and leant her arm against the broom. "Yes, he is. He should be here in a second."

As if Lyra and Mr Ollivander had planned it, the old wizard emerged from the shadows of his shelves.

His eyes shone through the room in their usual alert manner. "Mr Weasley! Beech wood with a unicorn hair core." He approached the front desk. "How can I help you?"

Lyra's head perked up in interest as the name 'Weasley' was said. Looking at the man once more, she smiled knowingly. Of course he was Charlie's father. No other wizarding family she knew of was so jolly and ginger.

Mr Weasley explained that he had accidentally got his wand chipped as he had put it in a blender. He then went on to explain what a blender was. Lyra smiled to herself while she was listening to the conversation, because it reminded her of the many times her muggle born father had explained anything muggle related to her mum who came from a pureblood family. They truly were opposites in every way.

It only took Mr Ollivander a minute in the back of his shop to repair it as it was just a small chip. Mr Weasley beamed and thanked the wandmaker when it was returned to him. He then departed the shop with merry goodbyes. Lyra was tempted to ask how Charlie was doing, but was too shy to do so. She didn't know him that well anyway.

The old wizard was going to hide in the depths of his shop once more before Lyra stopped him by calling out his name. He didn't say anything, but slowly turned around to face her. Lyra knew that his raised eyebrow was meant to look serious, but she couldn't see it as such because it was too feathery and made him look like an owl. 

"I was wondering if I could decorate the display windows. I wouldn't even need to buy anything!" Lyra urged as she dropped her broom and moved closer to Mr Ollivander, "I could just use the things we already have in the shop. Oh, please, just let me do something other than sweeping." 

Something flashed across his eyes, followed by a veil of sadness falling upon him. Did she say something bad? Pity tucked at Lyra's heart. She had never seen him look like that.

The old wizard give her a shaky smile and softened his usually gruff voice. "Hagrid is supposed to get unicorn hairs from the forbidden forest tomorrow. I will send him an owl and let him know that you'll accompany him." 

Lyra squealed with excitement and thanked him a thousand times, which he just laughed at and dismissed with another wave of his hand. He then retreated to his dark corner once again, but had a swing in his step this time. 

The young witch swept and danced around the shop, buzzing with anticipation, until the end of her shift.

***

Hagrid's hut was just as Lyra remembered it. The pointy roof was far higher than the walls, even though they were high enough for Hagrid to stand in them, so the entire hut just looked like a classic witch's hat. And the young girl had always loved it.  
Lyra grinned and skipped towards the familiar building. She wondered if Hagrid was cooking as she noticed smoke puffing out of the chimney.

Soon to find out, Lyra knocked at the door and was greeted by the sight of Hagrid's smile that was barely visible behind his mane of shaggy black hair and equally wild beard.

"Little Lyra!" He exclaimed, his face red with excitement, "Wouldn't have thought to see yeh so soon after leavin Hogwarts! But I'm happy yer here. I can always need a hand with unicorns. Quick creatures, they are." 

Lyra looked up at Hagrid towering above her and grinned. "I'm excited to help you! I've been dying to see a unicorn up close."

"Yeh and Charlie Weasley were both always good with animals." Hagrid beamed at the petite girl in front of him. Lyra smiled.

The young witch moved back as Hagrid left his hut and grabbed a lantern from beside the door. The sun was still shining outside, but they couldn't know how long they would be out for.

They spent their way to the forest chatting about what both of them had been up to. Hagrid told her about how Harry Potter had started attending Hogwarts and that he was apparently a nice fellow who liked to get into trouble. He, too had encountered a unicorn recently during detention, but it had been badly wounded.

"There's evil things in the forest. Things there havn't been here before," he muttered with discontent.

A cold shiver ran down Lyra's spine, so she wrapped her cardigan around her body more tightly and sharpened her gaze. The forbidden forest was not to be taken lightly.  
Even though it wasn't noon yet, the forest appeared grey and misty with the trees and bushes being mere shapes. Only few sunlight could fight its way through the dense trees.  
Good thing Hagrid brought a lantern.  
Lyra wanted to change the grim mood to a happier one.

She gently nudged Hagrid and gave him a childish grin. "This is the most fun I've had since starting my job at Ollivander's." 

"Oh I bet that he's been quite strict with yeh," laughed Hagrid, "he cares more about his wands than people. That's why he's so good at what he does. Wandlore is no easy craft, I'm telling yeh." 

A short laugh escaped Lyra's throat, but it died quickly and was replaced by a pensive expression. "I just wish he would let me do more. I'm already very grateful for coming with you, but I feel like that it will be back to sweeping the floors after this." 

"Have yeh asked him to teach yeh wandlore?" Inquired Hagrid.

Lyra snorted. "No, I'm not bright enough to learn wandlore. He wouldn't let me."

"Ah, nonsense. Yer brighter than yeh think, Lyra."

But before she could deny Hagrid's kind words, he abruptly put his arm in front of her chest, defensively pushing her behind him.

Lyra almost tripped at the gesture. "What's going on?"

"Shhh, there's somethin in the bushes," he whispered and held the lantern up.

They stood in the centre of a small clearing, all senses on high alert. Lyra started into the forest and listened for any sign of danger, but could see and hear nothing.  
Suddenly, there was a rustling. Chills chased up her spine. She spun around to look for the source, her pulse pounding in her ears. The bush in front of her. It moved. 

Lyra gulped and readied her wand, but Hagrid pushed her arm down. "Don't scare it." 

His gaze pointed to a tree in front of them and he subtly nodded. Lyra frowned in confusion, but understood as saw it. A thin bundle of long, white hair was dangling from one of the lower branches. Its silver colours danced in the moonlight, almost as if they were stars themselves. Unicorn hairs!

Seconds later, they saw the same bush move again and the sound of hooves on soft ground echoed through the clearing. Lyra's mouth was agape with awe as the delicate creature emerged from the shadows. The unicorn's white fur looked more elegant than any pearls she had ever seen.  
A silver shimmer flashed across its eyes as it noticed the two intruders. The creature froze and its ears pointed stiffly forward. 

"Don't move. We don't want to frighten it. Just bend down and put yer arm out like this," muttered Hagrid and stretched his hand out with his palm facing upwards, "and then let it come to yeh. Try not to look at its eyes too much or it might think that yer challenging it."

Lyra did as she was told, but the unicorn still didn't move. The young witch didn't either. She was too scared of frightening the beautiful creature and of disappointing Mr Ollivander or worse - letting down Hagrid. 

The unicorn's ears were now relaxed and leaning forward. Lyra wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. She knew that horses often communicated wih their ears, but didn't know what each position meant. The creature now took a cautious step into their direction and then stopped. 

Hagrid took this as a sign to step closer. "Yeh can come closer, but no rash movements. Unicorns are easily scared."

With the utmost care and Lyra following close behind, Hagrid approached the unicorn in the same bent over position. It let out a puff of air as he moved his hand to its muzzle. Hagrid let the unicorn sniff his hand, not daring to move an inch. Lyra wondered if it might bite his hand off if it decided not to like him and bit her lip anxiously. Did unicorns really do that?  
Thankfully, it seemed to approve of Hagrid and even ecouraged him to pet it by gently nudging his hand with its head. 

"Ah will yeh look at that. He's a cuddler!" Hagrid smiled and waved his friend towards him. "Go on, Lyra. Yeh can pet him!"

She happily obliged and the unicorn was just as content with Lyra as it was with Hagrid. The witch beamed. She had never even seen a unicorn before and now she was petting one! Its fur felt softer than ever fabric she had ever touched, but the mane amazed her even more. It was so fine that it looked as if it was flowing between her fingers. 

Hagrid smiled at Lyra, his head was far higher than the unicorn's, so he could look over it with ease. "The next part's gonna be trickier. We're gonna have to ask if it'll let us have some of its hairs."

Lyra was playing with the silver mane. "How do we do that?"

"Bit like with a Hippogriff. Yeh bow to it and if it turns 'round to show you its tail yeh can pluck out some hairs. That'll be the trickiest part, yeh mustn't scare because it might kick yeh. Just pluck the hairs and don't touch anything else, " he explained and gave Lyra a rather hard pat on the back that made her flinch. "Yeh will be fine." 

The young witch gulped. "Me? Hagrid, I don't think I'm qualified t-"

"Yeh need to learn and yer good with animals. He likes yeh," assured Hagrid and patted her once more.

Lyra nodded, not wanting to disappoint Hagrid, but her gut was twisting. It wouldn't be too bad, right? They both moved away from the unicorn, Hagrid to the side and Lyra further back in the centre.  
It let out a huff of air and tilted its head. Was that good or bad?

I can do it, she told herself.

The petite girl bowed deeply, her soft hair falling into her face. Yet, she could still peek out from behind it to get a good look at the creature. It was staring at her curiously, at least that's what she thought. Lyra bit her lip in anticipation.  
After (presumably) a moment of consideration, the unicorn swiftly turned around and presented Lyra with its tail. She grinned triumphantly at Hagrid, who returned a proud smile.

Okay, now to the tricky part, Lyra mentally braced herself.

She looked over her shoulder to find Hagrid moving is hand in a plucking motion. "Yeh have to pull it from the top without touching him."

Lyra tried not to laugh and nodded. Returning her attention to the unicorn, she reached out for its tail and was careful not to get mesmerised by its beauty. Lyra gently took it by the top and pulled a handful out in one swift motion. The unicorn didn't seem to mind in the slightest for it kept quiet even as the tail grew back in a matter of seconds.  
She held the hairs up and beamed at Hagrid. Lyra noted that this had been easier than she'd thought.

Well, it might have been easy, but Lyra had to painfully realise the danger of her current position.

The unicorn's ears perked up as they heard something move to their left. Lyra gasped, her heart skipping a beat, as her gaze landed on a cloaked figure standing in the shadows. This had to be the one Hagrid had told her about!

After that, everything happened too quickly. A green light shot past her. The unicorn whined. A sharp pain struck Lyra's chest. The ground was cold. Everything went dark.

***

The brightness made Lyra's eyes hurt, but she was too curious to shut them again. Where was she? She propped herself up on her elbows. Lyra was in a bed identical to the ones around her, with the exception that some had mint green curtains standing besides them. She grinned, her teeth almost as wide as the room. The hospital wing! Oh, the number of times she had come here after a clumsy accident.  
Lyra furrowed her eyebrows. But why was she here? What had happened?  
She didn't have to search her mind for very long until the memories came flooding back, making her wince. She had got kicked by the frightened unicorn. Great.  
It was only then that Lyra noticed the throbbing pain in her chest and how fuzzy her head felt. She groaned in pain and laid down again.

The familiar clicking of Ms Pomfrey's shoes coming in contact with the marble floor echoed through the hall until it came to a stop next to Lyra. The young witch lazily opened one of her eyes to look at the nurse.

She did not look happy. "I must say, Ms Livingston, I did not expect you back so soon." She pursed her lips and then sighed. "I had to force Hagrid and Mr Ollivander out, but I guess they can visit you now."

Lyra felt relief wash over her at the news that Hagrid was okay, but that feeling quickly vanished as she thought about how Mr Ollivander might react to her getting hurt on the first real 'mission' he had sent her on...


End file.
